Beattie makes best pitch for 'dream job' with Sox

Jim Beattie took a seat on a couch at the Crown Royal Club in Fenway Park yesterday after a day of meetings and conversations with president/CEO Larry Lucchino, chairman Tom Werner, and other members of the Red Sox front office.

Wearing the look of a man unfazed by the attention given to the fourth candidate interviewed by the team to fill the general manager job vacated by Theo Epstein, he addressed the media cordially, looking to make himself comfortable in a place he visited mostly as a righthanded pitcher. And he did just that as he said the intimate scene in the room of no more than 30 reporters and Sox employees reminded him of his days as vice president and GM of the Montreal Expos from 1995-2001.

''This is like a sellout in Montreal when I was there," Beattie joked.

Beattie shares a connection with Epstein in that both did not re-sign Pedro Martínez. Beattie shipped Martínez from the Expos to the Sox Nov. 18, 1997 for Carl Pavano and a player to be named (Tony Armas Jr.).

''I remember talking to Pedro the night we traded him," Beattie said. ''Payroll was not going to keep pace with everyone else's. We were given choices of letting guys become free agents or trading them."

Expos memories aside, Beattie discussed his feelings on trading Manny Ramírez and other issues that may await the Sox' next GM.

''Everybody is obviously open to be traded, or eligible to be traded," Beattie said.

When asked about the off-field issues involved with Ramírez, as well as his play, Beattie said, ''It doesn't sound like you have to trade Manny. I don't know Manny personally. As a ballplayer, he's a force. I know David Ortiz doesn't want him to be traded. When you're trying to put together clubs, you're trying to find great hitters like Manny Ramírez."

In addition, Beattie expressed surprise in Epstein's decision to not re-sign with the club.

''I think that surprised everyone," he said.

Beattie also said he called the Sox last week and expressed his interest in the job opening. Having been out of a job for a month after working as the Orioles' executive vice president of baseball operations since December 2002, he said he was not behind the eight ball in terms of being able to catch up on offseason business.

'With all the free agents, I know their agents, and I've been involved," Beattie said.

Beattie, who currently resides in Baltimore, was drafted by the Yankees in the fourth round in 1975 and won a World Series ring with the Bronx Bombers in 1978. He fondly recalled his visits to Fenway as a player. He grew up in Portland, Maine, but said he is not a lifelong Sox fan. ''I can't tell you that I'm a Red Sox fan through and through," he said.

He graduated from Dartmouth and has a daughter at the Ivy League school, as well as a daughter at Phillips Andover. He joked that he needed the position to pay his kids' tuition bills. When asked if he would be going back to Baltimore last night, he said he planned on attending his daughter's volleyball match at Andover today.

How have his family and friends responded to his interest in the job?

''Half told me, 'Good luck,' " Beattie said. ''The other half said, 'What the hell are you thinking?'

''A lot of my friends keep reminding me that it's a dream job," Beattie said. ''And it is."